Cursed Fate
by Flyla
Summary: *Warning: Contains Spoilers* Despite not knowing what will become of her, Velvet knows she has to save the world from Armageddon. What does Cornelius think about this?


SPOILER ALERT: In order to understand what is happening in this fic, it's best if you've played through _Armageddon_ the "right" way and watched the first half of the Good Ending, otherwise be aware of spoilers galore.

Author's Note: This was written soon after I got the first half of the good ending and immediately starts after Oswald and Gwendolyn have passed out in front of Velvet and Cornelius. For some reason when King Valentine told Velvet he had cursed the cauldron so no one else could use it, I assumed he meant whoever would use it would die, because despite playing a game for days straight where "Curse = Pooka Curse", I still had a more traditional fairytale mindset when I heard that. So just bear that in mind while reading this for the characters' reactions to make sense. Enjoy!

Odin Sphere Fanfic

Cursed Fate

Velvet x Cornelius – Aftermath of the True Ending

"No! Velvet, if you use the Cauldron you'll be cursed..."

He saw her smile as she shook her head.

"No, Cornelius-sama... This is destiny. I understand the prophesies now. I have to stop the Cauldron. Besides," she turned to the unconscious forms of her half-sister and the Shadow Knight, "I'm the only one who can."

His body trembled from exhaustion and he let his head fall to the ground.

_How pathetic,_ he thought as his eyelids drooped close. _I can't do anything to save her with this body. I can't even bid her goodbye in case this is the end._

He felt her move around him and heard her chain wrap around something metallic. There was a tremendous clang that echoed repeatedly, followed by another round of metallic banging.

It sounded like she flung something into the Cauldron using her chain...

He felt her move back to him and kneel down beside him, wrapping him up in her arms.

"Cornelius-sama, I must take your sword now... I'm sorry."

_It's all right..._

"If... If this doesn't work, please know that I'll be happy to die beside you..."

_No... No, don't say that..._

He couldn't get the words out. His body hurt too much. But he needed her to know that he would die _for_ her. She couldn't just resign herself to death when there was still a chance for her!

She squeezed him tight for a moment before gently placing him on the ground. He felt her remove his sword and use her chain to climb up the Cauldron. There was another round of clanging echoes as she tossed in his sword and finally her chain.

She began commanding the Cauldron to refill the world with phozons from the remaining psypher weapons.

_No... Velvet..._

It was over. She would be cursed to die, leaving him to go mad in a world without her, cursed as a Pooka forever.

There was a bright flash and slowly he felt the pain ease away. It was easier to breathe now and he managed to crack his eyes open.

Phozons were raining down from the sky... A few were entering his body, allowing him to recover slightly. He pushed himself to his feet and looked up at the Cauldron.

"You did it... Velvet," he whispered.

He prayed she would come down soon. He couldn't bring himself to look for her body.

She felt her body change as the phozons poured out of the Cauldron. She had been expecting this... This or death.

When the light died down, she opened her eyes and gasped.

Her body was covered in golden fur. Her long rabbit-like ears hovered just around the edges of her vision.

Velvet had always been aware of her own beauty, but was never proud of it, or vain.

But for the first time she became acutely aware of what she had lost. She would no longer be the beautiful princess that Cornelius fell in love with almost instantly...

And he was right down there waiting for her...

He wanted to call out to her. He wanted to, but didn't know what he would do if she didn't answer.

He'd probably just continue waiting here the rest of his life.

After a few minutes, a shadow finally hopped down from the Cauldron and landed before him. He sighed in relief as he lowered his eyes on the back of Velvet's hood.

_Wait..._ His eyes widened with clarity: Velvet was shorter than him.

He wildly reached up to grab his ears while he whipped his head down to stare at his rabbit-like legs.

He was still a Pooka.

"Velvet..." his eyes rose up to stare at her hood again and he noted the golden fur on her own rabbit legs.

Now she was a Pooka too.

She wasn't turning around to face him so he moved to embrace her, but she stepped away, "Stop!"

It felt like he had been slapped. "Wh... Velvet, what's the matter?"

"Please... Don't look at me." She sounded ashamed.

He felt a chuckle escape him at the absurdity of the situation. Did she think he couldn't tell what happened?

"Why not?"

"I... I don't want you to see me like this..."

His eyes narrowed as he spat out, "Did you forget that I'm a beast as well?"

She shuddered at his tone. "I won't be beautiful anymore," she half-sobbed. "I want you to remember how you felt about me before all of this! If you see me now..." she shook her head in despair. "I just don't want to lose your love..."

He used to pride himself on putting her feelings before his own; never raising his voice at her or putting his hands on her in anger.

He wouldn't be able to say that anymore, not after hearing her say something like that.

He growled as he grabbed her arm in a death grip and slammed her body against his chest. He winced momentarily at the sound of her moan from colliding into his chest plate, but he didn't loosen his hold on her.

He leaned into her hood, where he assumed she was hiding her long ears, and felt the scent of her in his sensitive nose fuel his anger.

"I crawled out of the Netherworld just to see you again. I killed a dragon to keep you alive. I offered to break my heart and leave you when we weren't a good match, just so you could have a chance to be happy with someone else." His voice rose with each word despite her flinching, but now he was outright yelling. "And now that we're both cursed, you won't even let me look at you?!"

She whimpered from the pain he caused her ears and that little sound broke his resolve.

He whirled her around to face him and slammed his mouth against hers. It wasn't like the gentle kisses he placed on her hand or forehead when they used to part in the woods, when he was still human. No, this kiss was full of desperation and need. She was too shocked to respond at first, but finally sighed into him and accepted the feelings he was pressing into her.

The kiss felt a little odd, what with the fur and the small, pink noses pressed against each other. But he had never enjoyed the feel of her half as much as before this moment.

Despite his anger, he still did as she requested and kept his eyes closed, even after their kiss ended.

She trembled in his arms slightly and he gently squeezed her.

"Look," he whispered. "My arms aren't too small to embrace you anymore. Even though I would never wish this upon you... I'm going to take advantage of the fact that I can be with you, even if we're like this."

"Cornelius-sama..."

He felt her step back, out of his arms before taking a few deep breaths.

"...All right... You can look now."

He opened his eyes slowly and let his eyes roam up her form. She was built like most female Pookas, except her fur was a brilliant gold, like her hair. She still had on her scarlet outfit, but instead of looking like a temptress she looked adorable with the large hood. Her violet eyes refused to meet his gaze, and her hands clutched at the hood to hide her ears from view.

He stepped over to her and pushed her hood back, freeing not only her ears but a waterfall of hair. His eyes grew wide in surprise as she still had that incredibly long hair, reaching the middle of her back. His hair had mostly disappeared when he became cursed. Her ears were drooping in self-consciousness, but stiffened when he reached up to feel one.

A small smile appeared on his face as the first thought that came to him was that it felt like velvet. Returning his gaze to her hair, he ran a paw through the tresses while clutching her shoulder with the other one. Her eyes looked up into his, still harboring some fear.

"You're right," he said. "You're not beautiful anymore."

Her eyes flew wide in shock which quickly turned into a hurt expression. She tried to pull away from him but he held onto her shoulder firmly. He began to caress her cheek with his paw and took in a deep whiff of her intoxicating scent. It had changed as well. It was stronger now, harder to ignore than when she was human.

"You're not just beautiful; you're the loveliest creature I've ever seen. You sacrificed yourself for the sake of humanity, risking your life to do so."

She blushed and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

"We might be like this forever... Can you live with a Pooka loving you?"

"Velvet, you were the one who said as long as we were together you could be happy, right?"

"Yes..."

"And I swore I would make you happy for as long as we lived."

"Mmhmm."

"So, you haven't changed your mind?"

"...Never."

"Then what are you worried about?"

She sighed happily while leaning into him further.

"Nothing at all."

Author's Note: While I like all of Odin Sphere's cannon couples, Velvet x Cornelius is not my favorite, and neither is this ficlet I wrote. I am mostly posting this in the hopes that it will encourage other, far better written fics on the Pooka couple, since I noticed there did not seem to be any about them post-curse. Even still, hope you liked it and thanks for reading!


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